Raymond Scott (born July 18, 1965), better known by his stage name Benzino or Ray Benzino, is an American
urban media proprietor
A media proprietor, also called a media executive, media mogul, media tycoon, or press baron is an entrepreneur who controls any means of public or commercial mass media, through the personal ownership or holding of a dominant position within a ...
, television personality, rapper and record producer. Benzino produced records (as part of the production team Hangmen 3) and co-owned ''
The Source'' magazine.
Career
Benzino has said one of the primary inspirations to enter the genre of rap stems from his fondness of the film ''
Wild Style''. Benzino was a founding member of rap groups
the Almighty RSO and
Made Men. He has appeared on the
reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
show ''
Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta'' since 2012.
Feud with Eminem
Benzino is known for being involved since 2002 in a widely publicized feud with rapper
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...
; the feud began after his ''The Source'' magazine rated ''
The Eminem Show'' as four mics out of five. Eminem blamed the magazine and its co-founder Benzino for what he considered an unfair rating. Benzino later released
diss track
A diss track, diss record or diss song (an abbreviation of ''disrespect'' or ''disparage'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feu ...
s towards Eminem, titled "Pull Your Skirt Up" (calling him "2003
Vanilla Ice") and "Die Another Day", while Eminem released "The Sauce" and "Nail in the Coffin". As a continuation of this animosity between the two, Benzino released the diss mixtape ''Benzino Presents: Die Another Day: Flawless Victory'', further disparaging Eminem.
On September 4, 2020, Benzino released a new single titled "The Bigger Picture" with an accompanying music video on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.
Personal life
Benzino's father Edward DeJesus was Puerto Rican and his mother Mary Scott was Black American and Cape Verdean. His sisters are Anita Scott-Wilson and Maureen Scott. In 2021, the rapper fell out with his daughter,
Coi Leray
Coi Leray Collins (born May 11, 1997) is an American rapper and singer. The daughter of rapper and media executive Benzino, she began her musical career in 2018 with the release of her debut mixtape, ''Everythingcoz''. She signed with Republic ...
, after she dissed Benzino in her song "
No More Parties".
Benzino has dated
Karlie Redd and
Althea Heart. Benzino and Heart had a son together in November 2015, but they broke off their engagement shortly thereafter. They appeared together on Season 6 of the television show ''
Marriage Boot Camp'' chronicling their broken relationship.
On March 29, 2014, Benzino was shot after attending his mother's funeral in
Duxbury, Massachusetts.
He was shot in the shoulder and back by his 36-year-old nephew Gai Scott, who was later arrested for shooting him.
Legal issues
On April 16, 2019, Benzino was stopped in
Brookhaven, Georgia
Brookhaven, formerly North Atlanta, is a city in the northeastern suburbs of Atlanta that is located in western DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, directly northeast of Atlanta. On July 31, 2012, Brookhaven was approved in a referendum to b ...
and cited for driving an uninsured vehicle. He was not the policy holder responsible for insuring the vehicle. On June 22, 2019, Benzino was arrested for a
bench warrant in
DeKalb County, Georgia
DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its ...
, and was taken to police headquarters for booking and was later jailed. As he was being transported there, he launched a racist tirade against a police officer arresting him, who was of
Vietnamese descent. The tirade involved multiple
racial slur
The following is a list of ethnic slurs, ethnophaulisms, or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnic, national, or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejor ...
s and
maternal insults. On July 31, 2020, Benzino was arrested and charged with criminal damage to property. He was accused of damaging the
Chevrolet Silverado
The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long-running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from the to ...
pickup truck of a man who was in the company of Benzino's ex-fiancée Althea Heart. On February 3, 2022, Benzino was arrested and charged with one count of second degree criminal damage to property, a felony.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
The Benzino Project'' (2001)
* ''
Redemption'' (2003)
* ''
Arch Nemesis'' (2005)
* ''
The Antidote'' (2007)
Collaboration albums
* ''In Tha Company of Killaz''
with Wiseguys (1996)
* ''
Doomsday: Forever RSO''
with the Almighty RSO (1996)
* ''
Classic Limited Edition''
with Made Men (1999)
* ''No Skits Vol. 1''
with Hangmen 3 (2000)
Remix albums
* ''
The Benzino Remix Project'' (2002)
Mixtapes
* ''Die Another Day: Flawless Victory'' (2003)
* ''When the Heavens Fall''
with 1st 48 (2010)
* ''Caezar'' (2011)
* ''Blue Bag''
with 1st 48 (2011)
* ''The Magnificent 757's''
with Stevie J (2012)
* ''Crushed Ice'' (2013)
* ''Welcome to Texaco City''
with OJ da Juiceman (2015)
Charted singles
* "
Rock the Party" (2002, US No. 82)
As featured artist
Filmography
Film
Television
Music Videos
References
External links
''Hip Hop Weekly'' magazine official website
{{Authority control
African-American male rappers
21st-century American male rappers
20th-century American male rappers
Living people
Rappers from Boston
American shooting survivors
Participants in American reality television series
1965 births
East Coast hip-hop musicians
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
20th-century African-American people
Hip-hop mass media people